The general goals of the proposed research are to contribute to the understanding of the function of the mammalian visual system, and to obtain indications about the rules through which the functional structure is achieved during development. This is pursued in several projects on the visual pathway in normal, functionally deprived, and mutant mice, involving mainly conventional neurophysiological recording techniques and some anatomical analysis. The functional analysis of the normal mouse visual system forms a basis for studies of developmental abnormalities; some results of this work have been published; other studies are planned. The strategy of the developmental studies is to produce alterations in the immature central nervous system and to investigate in the adult the resulting defects. The experimental damage relevant to this proposal is monocular deprivation and genetic mutations involving the visual system, such as albino, retinal degeneration, reeler and anophthalmic mice. An ultimate goal is to contribute to the knowledge about the developmental processes that lead to pathologic function in hereditary neurologic disorders, and to learn about the timing and nature of the signals to which the developing visual system reacts with structural changes.